En Masse Entertainment is now offering a free playable trial for the North American edition of TERA, offering the chance to try Bluehole Studios' MMORPG free of charge. The trial is offered on this page along with a playable demo offered through Gaikai that allows you to check out the game's combat instantly. Here's word on the trial:

The TERA trial is good for seven calendar days from the time a player enters the trial code. Players can level up to eight characters to level 23 on one server during the trial. There are some additional restrictions—trial players cannot vote in TERA elections, for instance—but for the most part, players can enjoy the full benefits of the game during their week of free play. All players need to join the world of TERA is an En Masse account. Then they can enter the code “TERATRIAL” to download and play TERA.

OpticNerve wrote on Jun 14, 2012, 18:44:I don't understand the appeal of TERA's combat system in comparison to GW2's. Been watching some youtube vids and reading some threads but as far as I know:

TERA:

Attacks, skills and spells root you into place

Some of the classes can dodge

You fight over-sized monsters called BAMs which have telegraphed moves

There's a crosshair

Main attack is bound to mouse 1 by default

No tab targeting

GW2:

Most attacks, skills and spells can be used and cast while moving aside from a very small handful of skills that purposely root you in place. Might account for the floaty feeling of combat some people have mentioned

All classes can dodge

Elites don't have easily noticeable telegraphed moves

No crosshair

The "main" attack is set to auto attack by default but can be unset and clicked on to "swing"

Uses tab or click targeting, but anything within reach or in the way of your attack or spell when used will be hit regardless

So aside from the crosshair and lack of tab targeting, what's so great about TERA's combat system in comparison?

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Yeah that does pretty much sum it up. GW2 has alot more of dynamic types of stuff going on for it as well imo. Between the random events and the skill choices.

OpticNerve wrote on Jun 14, 2012, 18:44:I don't understand the appeal of TERA's combat system in comparison to GW2's. Been watching some youtube vids and reading some threads but as far as I know:

TERA:

Attacks, skills and spells root you into place

Some of the classes can dodge

You fight over-sized monsters called BAMs which have telegraphed moves

There's a crosshair

Main attack is bound to mouse 1 by default

No tab targeting

GW2:

Most attacks, skills and spells can be used and cast while moving aside from a very small handful of skills that purposely root you in place. Might account for the floaty feeling of combat some people have mentioned

All classes can dodge

Elites don't have easily noticeable telegraphed moves

No crosshair

The "main" attack is set to auto attack by default but can be unset and clicked on to "swing"

Uses tab or click targeting, but anything within reach or in the way of your attack or spell when used will be hit regardless

So aside from the crosshair and lack of tab targeting, what's so great about TERA's combat system in comparison?

Nothing is stopping any character from "dodging" enemy attacks (as in, the enemies, ALL enemies, DO telegraph attacks and you CAN move out of the way of them). Certain classes get actual dodge skills that render the user invulnerable during the duration of the dodge, and later in the game the warrior gets two dodges. This lets non-tanks effectively tank if they know their enemy and they know how to dodge.

That Kotaku review was right; TERA's combat is literally the only fresh idea in the game. It's just my opinion that one fresh idea alone in a sea of rotten ones isn't enough to elevate the game.

And I did say the presentation is stellar. I've only seen videos of Guild Wars and it looks more like an "art direction" game as opposed to a "visual flair" game like TERA. TERA has your run-of-the-mill wild boars and wolves, sure, but it has a lot of crazy enemies as well that only Asian artists could come up with, and the animations are all very slick (especially the BAMs).

I don't understand the appeal of TERA's combat system in comparison to GW2's. Been watching some youtube vids and reading some threads but as far as I know:

TERA:

Attacks, skills and spells root you into place

Some of the classes can dodge

You fight over-sized monsters called BAMs which have telegraphed moves

There's a crosshair

Main attack is bound to mouse 1 by default

No tab targeting

GW2:

Most attacks, skills and spells can be used and cast while moving aside from a very small handful of skills that purposely root you in place. Might account for the floaty feeling of combat some people have mentioned

All classes can dodge

Elites don't have easily noticeable telegraphed moves

No crosshair

The "main" attack is set to auto attack by default but can be unset and clicked on to "swing"

Uses tab or click targeting, but anything within reach or in the way of your attack or spell when used will be hit regardless

So aside from the crosshair and lack of tab targeting, what's so great about TERA's combat system in comparison?

Calistoga wrote on Jun 14, 2012, 13:05:Having played both, respectfully disagree, I actually see it the other way around. Tera's big thing aside from the combat mechanic encouraging you to strafe behind monsters for more damage, (incidently GW2 has the same thing) is fighting Big Ass Monsters in groups. Essentially forcing one to find a group to even think of compleatling said quests.

Sure the combat is nice that it relies on player actively positioning but it's extremely linear in progression both skill wise, and quest wise. The only thing about the game that could even be called dynamic is the combat itself in positioning.

GW2 as far as I could tell for the first 15 levels doesn't force groups on you, granted that could change at higher levels though. Has a pretty dynamic skill system that changes skills based on equipment, and a talent unlock system completely chosen by the player on how he/she wants to build their character. Along with the Dynamic events and feeling of camaraderie from taking out a dynamic group event with a bunch of other players in the area and feeling rewarded and sastified for doing so.

Tera to me felt grindy as fuck, GW2 on the other hand I was having too much fun to even notice any sort of grind.

Yes, we respectfully disagree on Tera vs GW2. I believe Tera has a better feel and they pulled off a terrific, skillfully done, high fantasy world. The world in GW2 feels flat and like a old medieval rpg.

Honestly, I cant imagine someone who spends time with both games on a high end gaming system, could possibly think GW2 is equal or better than Tera. And I prepurchased GW2 to participate in beta 1 even before Tera came out, thinking that GW2 was going to be a great game. I played the first GW2 beta last month and was honestly underwhelmed. I apprehensively played Tera thinking it would be another mediocre Aion clone, and after 5 days was and still am blown away by the production values in the game. I read it cost 24 million dollars to make Tera and it shows.

Eh visually it's more a personal preference thing no doubt. Tera is good looking but it's in that anime asian style where as GW2 is stylized as well but in a more gritty tone. At least imo anyway.

I think what impressed me with GW2 is the camaraderie feeling it gave me though. I can't say that about alot of mmo's doing that for me aside from the original Planetside and MPBT3025's Beta (RIP).

That and having personal choice over which set of skills I'm using based on what gear I'm using, along with the trait system. Do I want to add power to my thief or maybe focus more on stealth? I didn't notice anything like that with Tera.

Zones being linear is enough to make me not want to play. Im not a big WoW fan but least they had a bunch of options of zones to go to for leveling. Linear game play is why I left Rift and one of the 20 reasons I left SWtOR.

Wasn't WoW basically the only game to actually have alternate world progression (one for horde, one for alliance)? For products calling themselves "massive" and "role-playing games", seldom is either title justified.

Calistoga wrote on Jun 14, 2012, 13:05:Having played both, respectfully disagree, I actually see it the other way around. Tera's big thing aside from the combat mechanic encouraging you to strafe behind monsters for more damage, (incidently GW2 has the same thing) is fighting Big Ass Monsters in groups. Essentially forcing one to find a group to even think of compleatling said quests.

Sure the combat is nice that it relies on player actively positioning but it's extremely linear in progression both skill wise, and quest wise. The only thing about the game that could even be called dynamic is the combat itself in positioning.

GW2 as far as I could tell for the first 15 levels doesn't force groups on you, granted that could change at higher levels though. Has a pretty dynamic skill system that changes skills based on equipment, and a talent unlock system completely chosen by the player on how he/she wants to build their character. Along with the Dynamic events and feeling of camaraderie from taking out a dynamic group event with a bunch of other players in the area and feeling rewarded and sastified for doing so.

Tera to me felt grindy as fuck, GW2 on the other hand I was having too much fun to even notice any sort of grind.

Yes, we respectfully disagree on Tera vs GW2. I believe Tera has a better feel and they pulled off a terrific, skillfully done, high fantasy world. The world in GW2 feels flat and like a old medieval rpg.

Honestly, I cant imagine someone who spends time with both games on a high end gaming system, could possibly think GW2 is equal or better than Tera. And I prepurchased GW2 to participate in beta 1 even before Tera came out, thinking that GW2 was going to be a great game. I played the first GW2 beta last month and was honestly underwhelmed. I apprehensively played Tera thinking it would be another mediocre Aion clone, and after 5 days was and still am blown away by the production values in the game. I read it cost 24 million dollars to make Tera and it shows.

Settle down guys. After I sent my post, I thought I should have mentioned I created an account yesterday JUST to help this person with their decision because I believe Tera is a great game.

Yeaahhhh but it isn't. Melee combat being uniquely active (though still a far, far cry from something like Devil May Cry or even Kingdom of Amalur) doesn't excuse the fact the game is a hopeless fucking slog otherwise. Every level is spent doing literally nothing but "kill x of enemy y". EVERY level. Zones are completely linear, and there is only one path of progression through the entire game. There are instanced dungeons for a very few level ranges, but it's faster to level up outside of them by doing the afformentioned endless slog of kill quests. BAMs offer a distraction. Loot is pointless because quest rewards are always better than everything you can find at current level. The crafting is not only worthless but is as grindy as crafting can manage to be in an MMO, and that's saying something.

Seriously, I'm so fucking tired of playing all these identical MMORPGs, games whose worlds are populated by faceless NPCs sending me off on endless pointless, boring errands to kill pointless enemies sitting around pointlessly in nice little groups in a tiny little cordoned-off zone populated by other players pointlessly doing exactly what I'm doing and then doing the whole fucking thing over again until I reach some pointlessly arbitrary level cap so the "real" game can begin wherein I can go do some pointless dungeon over and over and over again while min/maxing my equipment.

It's fucking disgusting that people equate this formula with entertainment, and fucking disgusting that nobody is capable or willing to develop something better. Everybody can extol the virtues of Guild Wars 2 all they want, but I know better than to hold my breath.

Zones being linear is enough to make me not want to play. Im not a big WoW fan but least they had a bunch of options of zones to go to for leveling. Linear game play is why I left Rift and one of the 20 reasons I left SWtOR.

Calistoga wrote on Jun 14, 2012, 13:05:I agree its mostly "kill x of enemy Y" but isnt that really what most mmorpgs are for to achieve level progression? Its almost like saying that i dont like FPS because I am always shooting things. It goes with the territory. If its this rehashed formula you dont like, then Tera will not appeal.

I just believe as far as the kill x formula goes, Tera on a technical level does it better than any game before it. The artists did a fantastic job rendering this fantasy world using the Unreal 3 engine. The game has a very solid and organic feel to it.

I am in the GW2 beta and honestly could not play it for more than 30 mins this past weekend after playing Tera for 2 last months. GW2 does feel like an antiquated grind. Tera at last puts a fresh face, graphics and melee, on this formula where it does not feel so grindy.

I am a jaded old gamer and am very impressed with what Tera has put together.

Having played both, respectfully disagree, I actually see it the other way around. Tera's big thing aside from the combat mechanic encouraging you to strafe behind monsters for more damage, (incidently GW2 has the same thing) is fighting Big Ass Monsters in groups. Essentially forcing one to find a group to even think of compleatling said quests.

Sure the combat is nice that it relies on player actively positioning but it's extremely linear in progression both skill wise, and quest wise. The only thing about the game that could even be called dynamic is the combat itself in positioning.

GW2 as far as I could tell for the first 15 levels doesn't force groups on you, granted that could change at higher levels though. Has a pretty dynamic skill system that changes skills based on equipment, and a talent unlock system completely chosen by the player on how he/she wants to build their character. Along with the Dynamic events and feeling of camaraderie from taking out a dynamic group event with a bunch of other players in the area and feeling rewarded and sastified for doing so.

Tera to me felt grindy as fuck, GW2 on the other hand I was having too much fun to even notice any sort of grind.

I agree its mostly "kill x of enemy Y" but isnt that really what most mmorpgs are for to achieve level progression? Its almost like saying that i dont like FPS because I am always shooting things. It goes with the territory. If its this rehashed formula you dont like, then Tera will not appeal.

I just believe as far as the kill x formula goes, Tera on a technical level does it better than any game before it. The artists did a fantastic job rendering this fantasy world using the Unreal 3 engine. The game has a very solid and organic feel to it.

I am in the GW2 beta and honestly could not play it for more than 30 mins this past weekend after playing Tera for 2 last months. GW2 does feel like an antiquated grind. Tera at last puts a fresh face, graphics and melee, on this formula where it does not feel so grindy.

I am a jaded old gamer and am very impressed with what Tera has put together.

Settle down guys. After I sent my post, I thought I should have mentioned I created an account yesterday JUST to help this person with their decision because I believe Tera is a great game.

Yeaahhhh but it isn't. Melee combat being uniquely active (though still a far, far cry from something like Devil May Cry or even Kingdom of Amalur) doesn't excuse the fact the game is a hopeless fucking slog otherwise. Every level is spent doing literally nothing but "kill x of enemy y". EVERY level. Zones are completely linear, and there is only one path of progression through the entire game. There are instanced dungeons for a very few level ranges, but it's faster to level up outside of them by doing the afformentioned endless slog of kill quests. BAMs offer a distraction. Loot is pointless because quest rewards are always better than everything you can find at current level. The crafting is not only worthless but is as grindy as crafting can manage to be in an MMO, and that's saying something.

Seriously, I'm so fucking tired of playing all these identical MMORPGs, games whose worlds are populated by faceless NPCs sending me off on endless pointless, boring errands to kill pointless enemies sitting around pointlessly in nice little groups in a tiny little cordoned-off zone populated by other players pointlessly doing exactly what I'm doing and then doing the whole fucking thing over again until I reach some pointlessly arbitrary level cap so the "real" game can begin wherein I can go do some pointless dungeon over and over and over again while min/maxing my equipment.

It's fucking disgusting that people equate this formula with entertainment, and fucking disgusting that nobody is capable or willing to develop something better. Everybody can extol the virtues of Guild Wars 2 all they want, but I know better than to hold my breath.

Fibrocyte wrote on Jun 14, 2012, 10:13:Tera has no lock-on system. If GW2 doesn't, either, then perhaps they are similar.

Compare for yourself by trying Tera for free.

While there is "locked on" targeting in GW2 (As in, a specific mob's health appears in the UI hud), one pretty much auto-targets the mobs the player is facing, and continues to do so as you mow down the mobs. Any mobs close by will get hit too (unless, at range, you purposely use a single target shot). The only time you'd really use tab (or click a specific mob) would be to switch targets that are sort of in range but have trash mobs in front of them (like a boss)... and from a long range, which mob you want to pick off first (if the auto targeted one isn't the mob you want), unless you are going to pull with an AOE shot.

It sort of sounds like GW2 is a hybrid, since every class can hit multiple mobs, yet have targeting.

"Did you even read cutters post or are you just suffering from rectal cranial inversion." - RedEye9

Zetler wrote on Jun 14, 2012, 06:21:While the game over all isn't that good, I'm glad that I played TERA because now I know what a nextgen MMO combat system should be like. Tab targeting is dead, you hear me Guild Wars 2? Seriously TERA combat totally wrecked Guild Wars 2 for me, I'm tired of being a god damn turret in every MMO.

Can you be a bit more specific?I don't use tab in GW2 for the most part unless I need to change the enemy I'm facing to the boss behind them. Melee hits more than one mob. So, I don't get what could be all that different in Tera as far as combat goes.

Tera has no lock-on system. If GW2 doesn't, either, then perhaps they are similar.

Zetler wrote on Jun 14, 2012, 06:21:While the game over all isn't that good, I'm glad that I played TERA because now I know what a nextgen MMO combat system should be like. Tab targeting is dead, you hear me Guild Wars 2? Seriously TERA combat totally wrecked Guild Wars 2 for me, I'm tired of being a god damn turret in every MMO.

Can you be a bit more specific?I don't use tab in GW2 for the most part unless I need to change the enemy I'm facing to the boss behind them. Melee hits more than one mob. So, I don't get what could be all that different in Tera as far as combat goes.

RollinThundr wrote on Jun 14, 2012, 09:40:I'm sure they could add more dynamic events as the game goes along, I agree, it's something I'd also like to see. But to their credit, it's the most polished beta I've ever played and feels launch ready. Looking forward to GW2's release very much.

Well I didn't quite mean add events, although that would have to be done. Take the same 2-3 events for a given point of interest area (Heart area events plus the dynamic events that spawn nearby)... then randomly change the objective by a factor of 2-3 per event. That way they aren't always "exactly" the same events... and a bit more dynamic (at last as far as the objective goes).

This comment was edited on Jun 14, 2012, 10:14.

"Did you even read cutters post or are you just suffering from rectal cranial inversion." - RedEye9

Sempai wrote on Jun 14, 2012, 06:21:What exactly would you do different?

I think GW2 is nudging the genre in the right direction.

PvE is designed for "coop"... not "forced grouping" like the old days... and not "solo only" because folks can't stand asshats in PUGS, or even bothering with LFG.

Things just happen all around you and you participate.Others can join without grouping.There's no kill stealing, ninja looting, griefing.Everyone can rez a fellow player and the coop environment encourages you to do so.

It makes for a much more friendly environment. Everyone can have their own agenda, yet play together in peace. That is awesome design.

What would I do different?Well if I could... I would make the dynamic events a bit more dynamic than the same 2-3 triggered near the same point of interest. But given the scale of the game, I understand why that would probably double the cost of it's development.

Agreed completely about GW2. You don't feel forced at all, and due to how resurection works, people are generally not bothered to help out those around them. Especially to fight a common goal, like a huge ass demon spawning in the middle of a creepy swamp, or a just random group of people all teaming up to take on a badass Wasp Queen.

I spent the beta weekend playing with my ex and one of our friends and it was awesome and tons of fun. Seeing 20-30 people just come together to finish a epic dynamic group quest, upon finishing it, every player gets rewarded with a giant chest with loot in it for levels far beyond what we were at. (lvl 30 gear enchantments while we were around lvl 14 or so) and everyone who participated got loot, not just 1 or 2 people with a lucky dice roll or whatever.

That's how you do it.

I'm sure they could add more dynamic events as the game goes along, I agree, it's something I'd also like to see. But to their credit, it's the most polished beta I've ever played and feels launch ready. Looking forward to GW2's release very much.